The Radiators Back Alley Blues friday Edition

Backalley blues

Like the other great album to come out of post-Katrina New Orleans, Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello’s The River in Reverse, the Radiators’ latest consists mainly of songs written before the deluge. But the long-running Crescent City band catch a definite sense of time and place on this disc, which was recorded in the studio during the first post-hurricane Mardi Gras. Many of the lyrics sound too appropriate to be accidental, especially the opening “Ace in the Hole� (“When the big wind blows chilly and cold, the wise fool flies south�) and the closing “Shine Tonight� (“We’re all in the same boat, it sunk without a trace�). It also makes sense that the band sound even more New Orleans–ish than usual, adding sax on the ’50s-style jukebox rocker “Rollercoaster� and banjo on the Preservation Hall homage “Desdemona.� The overall mood is more intense than usual for these guys, notably on the Richard Thompson–esque “Don’t Pray for Me� and the sexy/swampy “Rub It In� — the first time the standout track on a Radiators disc has been a love song. Their trademark two-guitar workouts are kept tight enough to serve the songs, and the mood is muted but still celebratory. The chanted choruses that close “Shine Tonight� attest to a city — or at least a few individual souls — slowly coming back to life.